For the Love of Peat, Enter Storey’s Tasting Whiskey Sweepstakes!

Celebrate Lew Bryson’s new book at WhiskyFest NY

Tasting Whiskey has been called “the only whiskey book you need.”

In a recent article by Sharon Kitchens on Huffington Post, Andrew Volk (a 2014 Coastal New England Rising Star Bartender and co-owner of Portland Hunt and Alpine Club in Maine) noted that for him, drinking whiskey “is all about mood. In the winter or after a long meal, I love sipping the peaty, smoky Scotches. But on a warm, summer day I’m much more inclined to grab a bourbon and lemonade or an Irish whiskey.”

My own approach is not nearly as nuanced. My whiskey education began with the boozy red maraschinos that my father would dredge from the bottom of his bourbon Manhattans and for most of my life, the idea of sipping an actual bourbon — cocktail or straight — triggered a shudder. But somehow (and I really don’t recall how it happened), in recent years, I’ve changed my mind. Bourbon has become my beverage of choice at a party or on a chilly autumn night at home. I’ve even begun to seek out, and prefer, the product of local distilleries. My mother prefers Scotch — something I have yet to acquire a taste for. But if I wanted to find the perfect entry point to that hard-to-pronounce single-malt, say, to understand its history and unique characteristics, and learn how on earth to approach tasting and appreciating it, I know exactly where I’d start.

Whether you’re an Andrew Volk type, armed with ample whiskey savvy, or more of a curious-but-largely-ignorant type like me, Lew Bryson’s new book, Tasting Whiskey, is about to become your best friend. And to celebrate the book’s impending arrival on shelves, we’re giving away a prize you’ll love: two tickets to WhiskyFest New York, the longest-running and best-attended whiskey festival in the U.S., and copies of Tasting Whiskey, of course! We’re choosing a winner in early October, which (luckily for you) means you still have through Tuesday to enter.

Visit our Sweepstakes website to enter, and to learn about the book and the festival.  — Emily Spiegelman, Digital Features Editor

Enter the Tasting Whiskey Sweepstakes

Still not convinced? Get a taste for Tasting Whiskey here: